November IVF/FET

[BambiOnIce80]

... Too soon?! 😁😉

Been waiting on a FET since we were put on July's list and I've heard from our clinic this week that I've to call them when AF rocks up in October for a November FET. We had our fresh cycle in January, had a BFP, but found there was no heartbeat at the 11 week scan in March (MMC) - it's been a bit of a roller-coaster so far this year (as if covid craziness wasn't enough!).

Found having a thread to go through it all with a massive emotional support, so looking for some MN buddies to do it all again with. Good luck ladies and looking forward to 'meeting' you 🍀🙂

Unfortunately I’ve just had the worst news. Good luck ladies. I’m bowing out now

Good luck @MGee123 and thank you @ivfjourney5. I’m still feeling pretty terrible - waiting for the team at the clinic to call and assess my symptoms. Oh and update us on the embryos.

I’m so sorry to hear this @Birdladybird - please let us know if we can help in any way.

@Birdladybird I'm so sorry. Thinking of you guys.

@MGee123 Good luck x

@Birdladybird I'm so so sorry 😢 that's devastating news. Please take care of yourself, is you partner with you so you can support each other today? Sending you virtual hugs 💐💐 xx

Oh @Birdladybird I'm so sorry 😢 I'm tearing up reading your update 😔 Give yourself some time to heal. We're hear to talk if you need us.x

I've literally been cleaning all weekend like a woman possessed, so only just catching up on everyone's news now...

Sounds like you had a lovely day 3 update @MGee123 💪 I'll be joining you on the running this morning🏃🏻‍♀️ Going to fit 10k in and then leave it at that until at least OTD - definitely not worth the risk. I'm also joining you on the early morning wide awakeness - 4 bloody 30 this morning 😣 And I'm crying at literally everything I watch on TV, whether it be happy, sad or neither! I'm trying to take it as a positive sign that the pessaries are worth the gunk and my progesterone is hopefully nice and high 🤞 Will be thinking of you later and sending you positive vibes 💓

I was hoping the lactulose would sort you out @MF1981 - sorry to hear it hasn't 😞 I hope the clinic call soon and help.x

That's an excellent fertilisation rate @Gardenlady543! 🥚 When I did my fresh cycle I ended up asking for a 50:50 IVF/ICSI split, only because we are primary unexplained and I'd read horror stories about ladies finding out when it was too late that the reason for their infertility was egg permeability issues - totally convinced myself that'd be me! It wasn't and we got a slightly higher fertilisation rate by IVF than ICSI, so the stats were right. Welcome to the gunk club! 🩲😂

My clinic didn't advise me to lie down after taking the pessaries either @ChicaXS, but any excuse to put my feet up for half an hour in the early afternoon I'll take! 😂 Try not to think about the stats 💐 I only had a 19% chance of a BFP on my fresh cycle, but we got one. Hang on in there.x

Sorry to hear that the lubion injection is a bit sore @unknownscot 💐 Maybe I should stop moaning about the pessary gunk! 😳 Has your plan come together for getting to the clinic on transfer day? 🤞

@SpyroC my pants are in tact!🩲💪🏃🏻‍♀️🤣 They definitely would have been bin worthy without the panty liner though! 😳 I'm glad you had a chippy! You deserve it! 😋 I had pizza last night after my 2 day cleanathon - I just couldn't face cooking on top of that 🙄 It'll be asparagus penne gratin tonight (with wholemeal pasta to try and combat any constipation the pessaries might be sending my way!), then I think it'll be bagels and hummus for lunch tomorrow, followed by hot and sour mushroom stir fry for dinner (with brown basmati rice for the same reason!)... not too unhealthy, but I doubt I'll keep it up beyond tomorrow 😬 Your willpower is impressive 💪

The cleaning is mostly done, thank you @ivfjourney5 ☺️ DP is going to finish off the couple of bits I didn't have time for - after 2 days of flat out cleaning I was a touch tetchy when he got home 😬 He instantly volunteered to do the last bits (whilst backing away slowly and maintaining eye contact! 😂). Just the bedding left to change on my to-do list today and then I can relax for tomorrow knowing we're as straight as we can be 🧘‍♀️ Remind me how your schedule is looking - have you started the progesterone or was it one more week of oestradiol? Keeping everything crossed for you that it does the trick for your lining 🤞🤞🤞

@Birdladybird I’m so sorry, sending you hugs . Is there something you’ve been avoiding that you can indulge in today, to make yourself feel better? I hope so, hot baths, takeaways etc.

Oh @Birdladybird I am so sorry. There really aren't words - you must be so upset. Thinking of you 💐 xx

@BambiOnIce80 oh I know about the gunk too. Was wondering if progesterone makes anyone else horny though? 🙈 it's mental.

I should hopefully hear today if my sister can take Thursday off to come with me.

Thank you ladies, its been a hard morning and i've had a good cry. I've got 3 more rounds so i'm going to take this one as a practice and look forward towards the next one. My DH is currently making me eggs benedict, perks of being married to a chef.

@Birdladybird sounds like a good approach to take. Just do what you need to do 👍😊 Eggs benedict sounds excellent 👌 as does a husband who is a chef!! Take care of yourself today xx

@Birdladybird Take your time and be there for each other x

Sorry to hear this @Birdladybird. Glad your husband is taking care of you and lots of luck for your next round xx

Good luck to those having transfers / waiting for calls today xxx

@birdladybird so sorry to hear that it must be really hard. Do take as much time as you need to recover, and sending hugs xx Good that you've got 3 goes left still too.

@spyroc congratulations! That's great news! And that looks like a really strong test line too!

@melissa1983 I think we might be quite similar timing-wise. Im on CD7 of a FET natural cycle and should be ovulating in a few days 🤞 Hope your scans are going well 😊

Just on the 2 hour trip back from my scan. Still no idea why they wanted me to come in on CD7 given that I ovulate on CD12-13 but apparently they just don't take any chances, which is good! Today was just to check I have a dominant follicle, which I do. Lining at 5.6mm which I think is okay for 5 days prior to ovulation. So, hopefully, ET in the next 10-12 days or so!👍 Next step for me is to do OPKs until I get a surge, then they start monitoring progesterone. It feels weird not taking drugs, I almost don't feel like I'm doing IVF at all. Not complaining though as I did not enjoy the drugs and sympathise with all the side effects you guys are going through xx

@PineappleC it’s really interesting to hear your experience, I’m due to have a fresh transfer on Thursday but with success rates at around 40% average, I’m being realistic that I may be looking at a FET In the future. I’ve been researching natural vs medicated. After this cycle of egg collection, I’ve had enough of the medications and want to avoid any more injections as much as I can, so I’d be keen to pursue a natural FET. Did your clinic try to push you away from it at all? The only plus point I can see for medicated is that they can be specific with timings. My clinic is only shut on a Sunday, does one day out make much difference?

@MGee123 great news on your update from the clinic - well done!

@Birdladybird really sorry to hear of your update today - that's hard to hear (we had the same on the first FET we tried). Good you have 3 more go's with the clinic and hopefully you'll be able to start soon.

@SpyroC I managed to stay away until today and got a 2-3 weeks on a digital this morning so I guess the levels are increasing! For some reason, I've been relatively fine about it all until last night and then had a night of doom and gloom and worry. Really need to just try and relax though and just get to the 7th for the scan! Have you had any bloods done and/ or booked an early scan?

@BambiOnIce80 how're things going for you? When's your next appt? Hope the meds are all going ok for you (aside from pant gunk). I'm still on the ass injections for 2 more weeks so looking forward to changing to the lubion!! And yes - it's beginning to sink in a little though still feels very very strange!! Just need to get through the next 2 weeks now!! God - thet's always some sort of wait isn't there!!

@ChicaXS how you holding up now?

@Gardenlady543 Actually my clinic said they try to encourage it as much as possible! We've moved clinics recently. My other FET was with our first clinic which puts most ppl on medicated (I think many clinics like to so they can control timings). Like you, I wasn't crazy about the drugs but key for me is that my body just didn't seem to absorb the Progynova or Cyclogest properly and my natural hormones and lining are much more reliable! So far, I'm having a much better experience with the natural cycle, and feel much better. The only slight stress is not being entirely sure it'll go ahead until the last minute (although I personally had that with medicated too!) I definitely think it's something to consider and discuss if your own hormones are good and you have regular cycles. But hopefully it won't come to that for you this time round 😊

Hi all - in case it’s relevant for anyone else, I have just had my nhs ivf appointment. It seems that only full stimulation cycles including a transfer are deducted from the nhs entitlement, so hopefully imminent second transfer won’t be deducted. We have 2 rounds free where we live which leaves us with one free on the nhs. That said, we’ve paid for the access fertility package and our nhs round won’t come through until next Spring so I don’t think it will be relevant for us now anyway.

Great news @TheGlitterFairy. It must seem like such a long wait to the 7th but the odds are in your favour now!

@PineappleC Sounds like things are progressing really well 👍🏻👍🏻 and we’ll be having a transfer around the same time hopefully 🙏🙏

@MGee123 hope the transfer went well today!

@BambiOnIce80 good luck for tomorrow!

Fingers crossed for you @unknownscot that your sister will be around on Thursday.

@MF1981 hope you’re feeling better

Xxx

*our hopefully imminent... 🤦🏼‍♀️

Thanks guys for your well wishes. I slept (kinda!) sitting up last night and today have managed a bowel movement - sorry for tmi! So am starting to hope I’ve turned a corner now. The clinic have insisted on a freeze all due to how ill I’ve been, as a transfer could make my already bad symptoms even worse and to be honest I couldn’t take it getting much worse. Last night was horrendous and I could barely move. Embryology update is we had 8 of our 9 that were on target at day 3 yesterday. Currently tracking at 3 early blasts, 2 catching them up and 3 with some unusual development patterns so it’s expected they’ll drop off. So 5 looking good at the moment but they did give a caveat that not all will make it to full blast stage. They’ll grade them in the morning and decide which ones to freeze and which to leave to day 6 and they’ll call us before lunchtime to let us know which ones they’ve frozen.

@MF1981 I bet that’s a bit of a shame for you but it sounds like it’s the right decision. I was in so much pain before the EC because of the size of my ovaries and was really worried when the nurse told me if I got pregnant with the transfer then the ovaries can remain as large (and the pain as bad) for the whole pregnancy. Luckily the pain has settled. I know pregnancy can make OHSS worse as well, at least science allows eggs to be frozen for a better time in the future. I think the EC cycle is a big foil to go through. So psychologically you’ll probably be in a better place at the time of FET as well. Fingers crossed you get some good news for the staging of blasts.

Thanks @Gardenlady543 yeah we’re hoping for good news tomorrow to give us future options. And this way I get to let my hair down a bit at Christmas!

@PineappleC Do they decide if it can go ahead before the blasts are thawed, if so then I guess it’s a disappointment but not the end of the world. How many scans and blood tests will be taken at the clinic in a FET cycle do you think? I reckon that the pros still outweigh the cons, it’s also nice to have the process as natural as possible.

Just catching up!

Glad things are looking okay @PineappleC ! Yes def not an issue not needing the drugs - I didn't mind the stims but am not a fan of this progesterone!

@TheGlitterFairy the 7th is too far away now! 2 weeks today!

@BonTon that is interesting to know about your eligibility. It seems to vary so much 🤷‍♀️

@MF1981 sorry you're still feeling rubbish but sounds like a good decision. And good numbers! 🤞🤞🤞

Keeping 🤞 for you as well @Gardenlady543. Hope the embryos keep doing their thing 👍

I had an odd afternoon. The good news is I have an embryo on board! The bad news is it hadn't reached full blastocyst stage yet (although showed signs of starting). We had 1 blastocyst but that was low quality and they felt this one was the better option. There was one other which also looked like it might be heading towards blastocyst stage but was a bit behind the one they put in. They are going to call me tomorrow and let me know how the low quality blast and other embryo have done overnight, and whether they will be worth freezing. I'm feeling okay but I guess a bit disappointed. That said, the embryologist said this isn't unusual and there is no telling what it will do once it is in. Psychologically I am keeping myself middle ground - hoping it might work but preparing to go again in January! Physically feeling fine, although the full bladder + speculum + ultrasound probe on my bladder was a horrible combo to experience 😂

I replied yesterday @MGee123 but for some reason it's not posted. (Probably on some random thread 😂) but yes I have struggled with sleep on the progesterone. I'm knackered! Congratulations on being pupo! Your response is similar to mine, I spent a lot of time reading through old threads about "slow embryos" and "lower grade blastocysts" there's plenty of good news stories out there. You just need it to be genetically normal 🤞🏻for you! It sounds like you have the right approach. Enjoy the early pupo bubble! Xx

Great news @Gardenlady543

Im so sorry @Birdladybird take care of yourself. This process is so cruel. 

@BambiOnIce80 go pants! 🩲🩲Mmm pizza I've been craving that and McDonald's for weeks! 🙈 that sounds lovely and healthy! 😋 I think your fine to indulge sometimes if you haven't been avoiding stuff for most of 2020 like I have. I'll keep my bfn plan in mind in case of bad news! I've lost weight through my ivf diet (I was already slim) so I'm trying to gain a few pounds now which isn't easy on my diet.

@unknownscot do you remember my 3am arousal? 🙈 pure progesterone! It's not been back though.

Thanks @PineappleC 😊 sounds as though progress is good your end too. A natural diet sounds great!

@TheGlitterFairy I am also much calmer than I thought I'd be. I thought I'd be an anxious mess during this second 2ww. I'm just praying I don't see any blood or experience any cramps now. 🙏🏻 My scan is on the 7th too! I will be 6+6, how far will you be? I may test next week, just because I have some weeks indicators left. They are notoriously dodgey when it comes to signalling 3+ though so I won't cry if it doesn't go up. What caused the doom and gloom? Or was it just hormonal? I had a moment as I realised I've only been taking half the dose of folate I should 😞, I had somehow missed that I'm supposed to take those 3 times a day. Just another thing to worry about now. I felt so stupid.

@BonTon where I live you get 1 fresh and 0 transfers. When all of this is over I might get involved with fertility fairness. I think it's awful and I really feel for couples who simply can't afford further treatment.

@MF1981 i'm glad you've been able to go today! Serious constipation is no joke, post laparoscopy I had it bad. I'm sorry it's a freeze all for you but as you say it sounds like it's for the best. I believe frozen actually has slightly higher success rates too. It's all looking good for your embryos too 🤞🏻

@BambiOnIce80 good luck tomorrow! I bet it'll be nice coming home to a super clean house and knowing you can just chill for the tww! I haven't started progesterone yet, I start that on Thursday, and I'm not looking forward to the gunk!! I'm running out of oestrogen tablets though so I need to pop to the clinic tomorrow to pick more up to keep me going! I don't have any more scans though so I'll have no idea what the lining looks like before transfer. I've been getting lots of CM so hopefully either the oestrogen is working or I'm getting rid of the fluid that was there🤞🏼

@unknownscot did you hear back from your sister?
@all what's everyone's experiences lately with partners allowed in for transfer? I know my clinic were allowing them for transfer but I don't know if they still are with the currently lockdown in England.

@PineappleC that journey must have been frustrating with it being so early in your cycle but as you say it's better that they check more often than less. I might do some research into natural, as I obviously don't absorb progynova either 😩 although I have PCOS so don't have regular cycles 😭

@MF1981 it definitely sounds like the right idea for a freeze all, I was quite surprised that the clinic didn't insist on it at your EC due to your numbers, but obviously feeling like you are the last thing you want is to get worse if they do a transfer. Hopefully the trip to the toilet will start to help things 🤞🏼 Hopefully you get another good update in the morning! I had one left to day 6 which made it into the freezer so there is hope 😊

Does anybody know anything about taking decongestants during all these drugs? I had a lovely soak in the bath earlier, and since then I've had a stinking blocked nose and I'm just fully congested 🤧