IVF Dec 2020-Jan 2021-anyone joining me?

[Kiza]

Hi,
After 2 years TTC #1 we are now eventually on the IVF bus! Should have started in June but Covid put a stop to that and after lots of back/forth with our NHS clinic we've got our treatment planning appointment on Friday and will be on the long protocol so probably starting mid- end of December!
Would love to have some ladies join me!
I've been creeping on other IVF threads but haven't been able to fully take part.

@starkid 🙋🏼‍♀️ I am, although I won't be starting until just before Xmas.
I'm waiting on my period to start which is due early next week... I've been watching YouTube videos on how to mix the liquids for injections and have ordered some needles from the internet for my partner and I to practice on fruit! 😆
Let me know how you get on and if you feel any side affects.

@Kiza - I was shown how to do the injections today by the nurse (via video) and i'm feeling slightly more confident now - especially her saying if there is a little bit of air left in the syringe it's not the end of the world as it's being injected into fat not a vein, and she had someone who had somehow been injecting just air into herself for weeks, no liquid She also said you're given way more needles than you need, so if you like you can practice with drawing up water

@kiza @starkid

I was trying to make up my husband's hormone injections for practice. I am terrified of needles and was shaking so much I could barely get it in the bottle. He has promised hell do them if I can't but I want to learn in case he's at work etc.

Most of my pre retrieval meds are in pens bar one which is a prefilled syringe and the pens are much easier to handle and thr needles are tiny.

Yours supposed to get the bubbles out as it may prevent the full dose but you're not gonna kill yourself with them or anything

@Bells3032 - yeah the gonal-f for ovary stimulation and ovitrelle for ovulation are both pre-loaded pens and looked very simple, but got to draw up the down-reg buserelin injections each day.

My nurse said it's best people are shown how to do them before the kit arrives, otherwise people see the massive drawing-up needles for the buserelin and freak out that that's what you've got to inject yourself with!

I'm so nervous for the injections! I've just finished a course of Provera tablets so anxiously awaiting my period to start so we can crack on. It has to arrive by 3/12 for us to do a cycle in Dec....

@onlyhereforthefood are you usually regular? Do you think it will show up by then?

@willithappen nope, hopelessly irregular which is why they gave me the provera, in theory I should start by next Monday but it's very close to the wire!

Ah that's a pest then for this wait for you! Fingers crossed af arrives on time!

I spoke to the clinic i start taking the medicine to induce my period on 4th January

Hi everyone, hope you don't mind me joining. I'm a little late to the party as I've been telling myself things weren't going to go ahead for various reasons but it looks like they are!

My back story... TTC since May 2018, similar to you @Bells3032 my DH had cancer in his early 20's so we anticipated things wouldn't be straight forward. Got our diagnosis of azoospermia in March 2019 and started our ivf journey from there. We had our first fresh round in October 2019 (2 blasts, one BFN second unsuitable to freeze) and our second fresh round in August 2020 (1 BFP sadly ended in a chemical and 4 frozen embabies) huge improvement from round one to two. About to start a short protocol FET on CD1. I've been around the block a little with it all so feel free to ask me anything!

Current plan for our FET all rests on AF showing up on time. I usually have a 28 day cycle but since my chemical in September my two following cycles have been 31 days, pushing my embryo transfer date closer to Christmas than I would like! Currently booked in for a provisional transfer date of 23rd Dec! Obviously leaves us very little wiggle room and it's making me anxious. Hoping af shows up early to give us some more space. Planning on having one frostie back, I have 2 5bb and 2 4bb

@Kiza I saw you mention in an earlier post that you where going to try and find an ivf calendar to print out. I have done this every cycle. I just use blank calendars off Google and write all the drugs in myself. I found it really useful not only to keep my meds on track but also to physically cross a day off each evening as a little well done to myself!

Looking forward to getting to know everyone and share our journeys!

P.s I fully read the first 2 pages and just skimmed the rest but I'm going to have a full read on my break, so apologies if I've missed anything

@Mseddy
Fingers crossed for AF arriving on time! How are you feeling with it all! Nervous?

I'm sat at work right now nervous as anything because we have our top of the list appointment at 1 today. It's literally a video appointment and I will be doing it from home but because it will finally give us treatment plan and timeline it's making everything so real. 9 months since I last spoke with our doc there so it's been 9 months of waiting but nothing really set in stone so to finally have a plan with dates attached is terrifying me. Plus I know we need to get blood tests done and I faint at that so fuuun

Just RTFT turns out I did miss something big! Congrats @winnie3838 beautiful strong positives! Got everything crossed for you.

@willithappen good luck for your appt! The nervousness is normal but you'll be feeling so much better after once you have a plan trust me. I am nervous for this cycle! I've never done a FET before so that side of things is new. I'm petrified of actually being pregnant again after how hard my early miscarriage was in September, I feel like the excitement of testing positive this time (fingers crossed if it happens) is already tarnished because the fear of another chemical will just haunt me. I'm scared of a BFN. I'm scared of my frosties not thawing right and loosing them all in one go! I think I'm just scared of making myself vulnerable at a time that I already feel vulnerable still from the last embryo. I feel like I have a safety blanket with 4 embryos in the freezer and each time I take one out it's going to get harder and harder! But I just need to put on my big girl pants and do it!!

@Mseddy i think the fears are completely normal. just try and take one day at a time. I know someone who had a still birth followed by two miscarriages. she didn't tell her friends she was pregnant the third time til about month 8 (slightly easier since she was in lockdown since about 8 weeks). she has a beautiful healthy boy a few weeks ago. it is incredibly hard to move ahead of your fears but just know everyone is feeling it too. We are putting ourselves through so much and we just want one positive outcome.

I am also nervous as hell. I've never done the TTC thing so trying to get my head around the "we are trying to have a baby" thing. it is an insane concept. Before lockdown i didn't want kids anytime soon. i wanted to travel and just have fun. But lockdown and test results have turned things on its head and its all i want and i am so impatient to start. I open my fridge every day to see those medications sitting there and it's all i can think about.

I am also anxious as the only blood test i have had was my AMH and a mid cycle scan. No other hormones have been checked. Is this normal?

I definitely think it's completely normal to feel that way. It's such a strange thing we are all going through and with experience and reading up on it all we're all prepared for the worst most of the time.
However I did read someone say to try let yourself be happy. Don't take that moment away from yourself by thinking the worst.

For the tests I got day 21 before being referred. Then at clinic I got ultrasound and then a HyCoSy and my partner had 1 SA and that's the only tests we have had done this whole time. This was this time last year so nothing since. I don't know my AMH, I know my AFC as it was on the referral letter I was copied in on but I didn't even know at the time they were looking at that!

So just had appointment, it was basically just to watch us sign the consent forms and that was it. Asked us to call a number to book bloods and they can't get us in until at earliest Dec 14th...
Been told I will get an appointment from nurses but I don't know when to expect that and been told it's looking like after Christmas for us being seen.
Didn't ask anything about my cycles, didn't say anything about protocol - until I asked. Short protocol unless anything changes through time.

I feel a bit... deflated? I was looking forward to this and getting answers and really thought I'd be somewhere/have a goal in mind but feel even more lost now than I was before I got that appointment for today through. Really thought today would give me more details on time length.

Hi @willithappen
Sorry to hear you’re feeling deflated. But at least if you’re on short protocol & you start after Xmas things could happen quite quickly for you? Hopefully after you do the bloods you will get some movement. I have my app on 16th Dec & Im expecting some sort of timeline but reading your message perhaps I should lower my expectations!

@willithappen i didn't even have protocols mentioned until about my third appts. Timelines as follows

mid sept - initial appts covering background and personal details. bloods taken.
end Oct - second appt to follow up from bloods etc (there was a particular genetic one that took a while to get back) and referred to the nurse
mid nov - appt with nurse who discussed protocols and treatments for me and what the medication and process would be like.
Got my meds a week later but they have a 30th Nov cut off for starting the cycle this year and my cycles are all over the place so won't hit that.

Probably plan to start first cycle mid jan.

It's all a painfully slow process.

Thanks ladies!

So I have had a drawn out process. I have already had the 21 day bloods etc and initial appointments done at hospital prior to Covid. This was the 'top of the list' appointment and I guess I just assumed to have a bit more info after all this waiting.

Will focus on Christmas and recoup after new year if I haven't heard again

So ladies i got my medication today wow quite a lot!!

Will be starting on the 4th Jan

@Freya2015 yes it looks so much!! it is insane how much we put our bodies through. and i only have enough til a pregnancy test. need another 8 weeks of meds to still come is test is positive.

I think I am getting AF today which is exactly four weeks since my last one so if that continues then i think we'll be looking at January 22nd as a start date.

Really have you got everything aswell? @Bells3032

Got all mine through too yesterday, it does look a lot! The needles for the down-reg injections does look rather small to be fair.

I put the progesterone gel away elsewhere to make some room as that wouldn't be needed for ages, as egg collection not til 3rd week of Jan for me.

Be interesting over the xmas period with the meds that are in the fridge! Might need to use nature's fridge (outside the back door) for drinks grin]

@Freya2015 yes. it was lucky i'd cleared out the bathroom cupboard the other day ahead of our move as I have no idea what to do with the massive box.

I took the pens that need refridgeration out of their boxes and put them in freezer bags in the fridge so they don't take up that much space. Just trying to make sure they stay at the front of the fridge so they don't freeze by accident.

The upside to lockdown is no one coming over to see!

@Bells3032 i had cerotride to refrigerate the rest i packed away in my wardrobe

Can i just be January already!!! I want to move and start IVF.

I am getting ridiculously impatient