IVF January/February 2021?

[jm2020]

Is it too soon?

Hi Is anyone starting IVF in January/February next year?

We had our first failed IVF cycle in October and looking to go for our second cycle but the way my periods are it falls over xmas when they are shut.

So we are starting in Jan :)

x

@louloulemons I was told after my miscarriage I could go on the next cycle I've had 2 cancelled cycles since then. One was my lining wasn't ready but I had ovulated.. and the other One where they didn't believe that I was ovulating and didn't want to believe ovulation sticks with a smily face (even tho they told me to do them ) because my follicles wasn't large enough for the ovulation stick to pick up. They said a natural cycle is the easiest and cheapest which I found out it's not if you can't pick up ovulation, had to have scans. To then pick it up and said no sorry.. I've now asked to be put on medicated cycle as it's easier than keep tracking my ovulation, there saying speaking and getting back to me.
It so hard when there speaking and in there terms aswell. I would ring again tomorrow and have questions to ask. Some I don't think are very compassionate for what your going through. I hope you get some answers!

@Mrbay 8mile walk.. I'm tired just thinking about it lol. X

Hi everyone,

I hope you guys don’t mind me scooting over here!

I am at the end of an almost certainly unsuccessful fresh cycle, my OTD is on Wednesday and I’ve been told to keep taking progesterone but the clinic is quite certain that there is no way I will be pregnant since what started as a bit of spotting on Friday is now heavy flow. They are so convinced that my specialist review for the next cycle is booked in a week on Thursday. I had weird pelvic pains radiating into my lower back and was convinced it was implantation related, but that bubble burst this morning when AF definitely arrived.

I’m with access fertility and I have the 2 collection/unlimited FET package, I managed to get 8 x frozen blasts, so everything seemed to be going really well until the day before the ET when I developed a significant rash, it looked as though I was allergic to progesterone. The specialist wanted to cancel everything but we made a compromise and the worst graded blastocytes was transferred (but alas underdog embryo didn’t make it). The rash settled after a few days but I think my body reacted while it got use to a high dose, so I’m worried how I will react next time. I am going to discuss PGT-A testing the top 4 blasts and hopefully will be able to have a FET after my next natural period, so aiming for around January time.

@ivftake3 - way too long!! Stupidly I thought it wouldn't take that long - 5/6-years down the line and I'm still only DH and me!

I feel you about the DH groan - mine's been on nights for the past few weeks - the dog and I are loving having the bed to ourselves!

@Gardenlady543 - sorry to hear that, I hate the not knowing and having to continue as if it is all ok when really you just want to stop taking the med and taking progesterone.
Must feel nice to have 7 in the freezer. When will you plan your next transfer for?

Hello everyone, can I join please?

Hopefully doing our first FET in January after a stimm/egg collection in November resulted in 19 eggs, 12 fertilized and 7 embryos. We were planning a fresh transfer but they did a scan just beforehand and the risk of OHSS was too big so they put the lot on ice.

I'm probably doing a baseline scan between day 18 to 24, so around Xmas, and then will start on medication whenever my period shows us in Jan.

We had a cancelled cycle back in September when my body just didn't respond at all to the medication so this cycle seems to be going well, if slowly.

Feeling reasonably optimistic about the FET in Jan but also aware that its Christmas, the time of selection boxes and mulled wine, so a bit worried I won't be at my healthiest. I guess I'll have to go easy.

Really interested to hear how others are preparing for Jan/Feb.

@Mrbay I’m going to speak to the specialist next week, but the last time we spoke she said I will get a bleed 2-5 days after the progesterone stops, although I’m pretty sure that’s unlikely to happen since I’m bleeding now and stopping the progesterone after tomorrow’s dose! I presume my uterus lining won’t shed again!! She then likes people to wait for a natural period which will become the start of the FET cycle. So I’m looking at this time in a month I guess, which seems to line up nicely as the clinic shuts for Xmas.

It sounds like you had a tough time with the OHSS stopping things, has it all settled down now? I have a AFC on 34 so the clinic were worried about OHSS, I had a lot of pain from enlarged ovaries, but I was on a low dose shirt protocol and I only needed 8 days of stimulation. In the end I was fine in relation to my oestrogen, it was the progesterone that caused me problems!! My specialist was insistent on cancelling on the ET day because I had a bad rash from it and it was only through begging that we went with the transfer of underdog embryo. Underdog was the 9th embryo and not freezable but had a 36% chance of a live birth, so I thought it was worth a shot, it would have made a great story, “you were destined to be destroyed, but got saved as I got a rash”, anyway it wasn’t meant to be, but I’m glad I got the chance to try. It’s also nice to know the next shot I should have a better chance as the blastocytes are graded better.

Hi @Peachy1381 it sounds like you’re in a similar position to me, As I’ve just been through a fresh cycle, I had a ET but it wasn’t successful and have a good number of blasts frozen so I’m going to speak about PGT-A testing to help choose the best one. I’ve been reassured that FET cycles are so much easier on the body than fresh, I honestly feel like I’ve just stepped off a rollercoaster!

Yep, know what you mean about having stepped off a rollercoaster @Gardenlady543 Thats a perfect way to describe it!

My stims cycle was rough, migraines and dizziness, and then it was very will we/won't we right up until they decided that it was definitely a bad idea to go for a fresh transfer. I'm kind of glad to have this bit of time to regroup and get back to feeling normal for a bit before January.

Interesting about PGT-A, is that an added service you can ask for? Also really interesting that your clinic gave you the % live birth chance rate for your embryos. Mine just gave us the grades and that was that, but we are on NHS funding so I wonder if that makes a difference.

@Peachy1381 Gosh I imagine if you were at a high risk of OHSS you must have felt very unwell. You know what worried me, my ovary pain was so bad and the nurse told me when they do the EC it doesn’t get better as the follicles fill with blood and then the ovaries remain big and painful for a whole pregnancy!! Luckily she was wrong and the pain went away within a couple of days, I was so worried about 9 months of that pain. Apparently most people don’t get this pain, in case anyone is reading this and getting worried, it was only because I had a lot of follicles to begin with.

I paid for an access fertility package and included in that is a special incubator with a microscope, it records each embryo 24/7 and based on data of previous cycles it gives it a percentage of resulting in a live birth based on how it moves and grows, this is a really good bit of tech because the embryo I had transferred was graded 2,3 so one above from the lowest grade, but the computer algorithm gave it a score of 8/10 which meant it had a fairly high percentage chance. After I had the transfer the embryologist sent me a video of the embryo growing, although that just led to me getting super attached and now being very upset!

The PGT-A is an extra cost and I’m actually not sure how much it will cost, It costs just under £300 per embryo normally, but since the embryos are now frozen it might be really expensive, ideally you decide to have it done before EC. Once the blastocytes get big enough they will take a biopsy and send it off for analysis, they then freeze the embryos and wait for the result. It’s just about checking if the number of chromosomes is slightly off, they don’t look for specific mutations with this. Some transfers fail because of these chromosome issues, my clinic told me at my age, 35. The chance of the embryo having this issue is 30% and that goes up to 70% for those over 40, so that’s why they recommend people over 40 get the testing or have a double transfer. But then I read the leaflet they gave me and it says the chance is 50% at age 35-36, so if it is that high, I would much rather eliminate those ones from transfers, as they are likely to either not implant or miscarry.

Hi, hoping you dont mind me joining!

We're starting IVF in Jan for our first cycle. We have MFI, but otherwise believe everything is okay. We're with ABC in Manchester and going private as DH is American and doesn't qualify for anything fertility based on NHS yet so we don't want to risk waiting another year for NHS IVF just to be told we can't have it anyway!

We are on short protocol and I'm due AF on the 1st Jan so it really will be a new year and new start for us! Excited but also scared about the whole process and what to expect. It's so nice to hear all of your real stories!

Just had my nurses appointment and with all my dates so looking like I'm starting Jan/Feb
Have to call in when my jan period starts and get everything going. Dates are currently looking like 26th Feb for egg collection.
Seems so far away still but I know it will be here before we know it too! Gotta get through the festive season then all go once into the new year. I technically won't start the tablets until 1st Feb, so everything will be happening in February I think.

@Gardenlady543 Sounds like a cool/useful extra with the camera etc although I'm not sure I'd actually want to see that myself (unless the result was a pregnancy) as you say it can make you really attached. I'm trying to hold on to my sanity by not getting too emotional about to our 7 frozen embryos. Easier said than done!

I definitely don't think my clinic would offer a PGT-A unless we had several failed cycles behind us. I'm 35 as well, and the biggest part of our problem is MF so I considered getting a DNA fragmentation test for DP ahead of this cycle but the one I looked into was £900 (they tested other things as well) and I don't think there is a huge amount they could do if there was fragmentation so decided in the end that the money would be better kept in the pot for future cycles if needed.

@willithappen That's quite exciting. Feb will be here before you know it and it gives you a good month to focus on your health after Christmas. Got our baseline scan booked in now for late December so we should be ready to roll in Jan. Really need to not get too carried away this Christmas (while obviously still enjoying the season because 2020 has been hard enough!!)

Hi @Beaglemum91 you sound just like I did before my cycle, I was a first timer, everyone was using all these acronyms and seemed to know the whole process, no matter how much information I was given I was still apprehensive. It was so much easier than I thought it would be, I was worried that hormones would make me go crazy, but I didn’t notice a difference. I was also worried about being sedated as opposed to having a general anesthetic for the egg collection, but the sedatives knocked me out completely so it was absolutely fine. After just finishing the fresh cycle I feel like I’m an expert now!

Hi @willithappen I planned out all the dates I was given, but ended up having the egg collection a lot sooner than I thought I would. I noticed that dates seems quite far away, but once you start the meds time goes really quickly. You’ll be at the end of the process in no time!

@Peachy1381 exciting! Yeah I'm
Going to do the same and take January to get healthy and focus on myself until then. Then February start all the drugs into me! I'm sure February will fly by too!

@Gardenlady543 thanks! Yeah it will fly by! I have to call for my January period, then day 21 of that is when I start the tablets, scans, injections etc. So I have a rough idea of dates but depends on period arriving. It can be a day early or a day late sometimes but shouldn't be too much out of whack!

I think I'm gonna take the week off work where I need to be in every second day for scans. 40 mins drive each way and don't wanna explain to them what's going on.

Also was calmed down re egg collection, they don't put you to sleep here but they said it's ten minutes and all done and you get morphine etc and was told it would feel like I was on a really good night out hahaha

Hi all, can I join? Starting my 5th round of IVF end Jan start Feb! I’m with Lister in London.

Welcome @Beaglemum91*@Peachy1381@willithappen**@Gardenlady543 @willithappen* @ForeverAintEnough

I hope 2021 is a very good year for us all!

Gardenlady543 sorry to hear about your failed cycle! Glad you have some in the freezer :)

@beaglemum91 is this your first cycle? I’m short protocol aswell

@willithappen are you on long protocol?

@peachy1381 the only thing I’m doing to prepare is cut out caffeine and folic acid and vit d everyday

So sorry if I’ve missed anyone.

Hope you are all ok: my meds are arriving tomoz for me to start on Sunday :) looking forward to getting started again but scared of the outcome.

Xx

Hi @ForeverAintEnough sounds like you’ve got a few to prepare like the rest of us, it would be good to hear your past experience if you’re happy to share

@willithappen oh wow that’s a long drive, is it a specialist clinic? I tried to book my annual leave for the week the egg collection would fall, but they brought it forward so it ended up being the Saturday before my leave. That meant I was in for scans and bloods and had symptoms in the week I was at work! It was helpful though because I knew I’d have the day off for my ET. And I just spent the week chilling out which was nice.

@jm2020 I'm on short protocol, so start the down reg start of Feb and by around 26th should be egg collection

@Gardenlady543 it's the closest clinic to me. I'm in Scotland so there are only two clinics I believe? Not 100% but it's not too bad. It's the closest city to me

@jm2020 thanks for the welcome 😊 I’m glad your meds are arriving soon! Sounds like it’s all system go for you!

@willithappen ah that makes sense if you’re quite far from clinics, I’ve seen some people travel for hours to get to specialist center, so wasn’t sure if that is the case. I’m hoping I won’t need to travel but had an issue with the progesterone in my last cycle that seems quite rare, so hoping I don’t react as badly in my FET.

Wow 2 clinics in the whole of Scotland!! I didn’t realise there were so few!

@Gardenlady543 I was going to write it all out but figured it’d be too long 😂

I’m 34 DH 36. Been TTC 3 years. Initially did IVF for severe male factor. 1st and 2nd rounds poor response and no blasts so no transfers. Took some time off found out my DH had a varicoele and that my testosterone was 0 so we had the varicoele embolized which halved fragmentation and I went on DHEA as well as a load of dietary changes and supplements.

3rd round then we got 2 top quality blasts 5AB and 4AA. Transferred back the 5AB and got a negative and my period started early so I don’t think I was on enough progesterone. As it took us until round 3 to make a blastocyst we were worried it was a fluke so decided to save the 4AA and see could we make more embryos. My clinic also weren’t proactive about the progesterone issues and I didn’t want to just transfer it and have my period arrive early again so we did several consults and we decided to move to Lister.

My AMH had declined quite a bit at this stage so we decided on 3 rounds of embryo banking and PGS testing, also did immune bloods just in case as apparently period arriving before test day can be indicative of immune issues. Found out I do need steroids due to NKC.

Round 4 in Lister yielded x3 top quality blasts x2 3AA and x1 5AA but unfortunately 2 came back no result ( could be abnormal could be normal they couldn’t tell) and 1 abnormal so now we are back to square one. Given how inconclusive the PGS was and as we’d decided on x3 rounds of embryo banking anyway we’re going to just put those 2 no result aside now and see if the next round yields any normals. We don’t want to retest yet in case they are normal but the re biopsy damages them so hoping that if we get some normals next time it’ll inform whether those others might be normal too and worth transferring.

Hard to know if we’d just gone ahead with the 4AA transfer from round 3 maybe it would’ve worked and I’d be pregnant by now but with my AMH going down and the inconclusive nature of the PGS results we decided we should do this next round and see how it goes! We are just very unfortunate and random things keep happening! As my consultant said in our follow up today our inconclusive PGS results is just typical for us! There was only a 2% chance of that happening.

Happy to answer any questions if it’s anyone’s first time and you want to know anything or in general!

@ForeverAintEnough oh wow you’ve really been through it! It’s so helpful to hear about your journey. Especially to know about the progesterone.

I have just had a fresh cycle and I got pelvic pains on 7dp5dt and then started spotting on 8dp5dt by 10dp5dt it was a full on period, it is actually my OTD tomorrow but with numerous BFN and a full flow period in full swing it is very clear that this has been unsuccessful and the plan is for FET in January. I was very upset because I told the nurse on day 8 that there was a pink discharge with a small red clot and I was told not to adjust the progesterone. I wondered if it was caused by the progesterone dose being too low but the clinic said my body would have been producing progesterone as well as it was a fresh cycle and that it’s just one of those things. To complicate matters I reacted when the progesterone was first started with a terrible rash and it took my body a few days before I stopped having reactions.

An immune issue affecting implantation has crossed my mind. I monitored my cycles for 12 months when we were trying naturally and everything was fine, my partners sperm has good numbers and we ended up with 12 eggs- all were mature, all fertilized and we got 9 blasts, 4 were graded at the top as 1,1’s. So I’m thinking, hold on here... really good quality eggs, normal cycles, good sperm. Why has this all not happened. To be honest I don’t think they will start worrying about an immune issue until around 3 unsuccessful transfers and from what I’ve seen the immune tests are expensive and not that conclusive, plus only the specialist clinics seem to do them. Even when they pick things up the answer seems to be steroids, so I wonder if they will just add in some steroids if I am unsuccessful after a few ETs.

Thanks @jm2020! This is our first cycle so all new!

@willithappen I feel your pain, our clinic is an hour and a half away! Fortunately I've told work as we have a really good wellbeing culture and they're completely supportive of whatever time off I need for it. I place to take a week off around EC so I'm stress free and to make sure I can rest in case of OHSS as I only have one kidney so I have to be extra careful.

@Beaglemum91 are you taking the week from the day of egg collection or leading up to it?

@willithappen I haven't decided yet, I might see how I feel and either start it just before or on the day. I've told work that I'll be taking a week off around the middle of the month but that I'll book it last minute and they were fine with that. I may just book off when I think EC will roughly be and add a few days before if I feel I need them. I work from home anyway so if I don't feel good and need to take breaks in the day I can fortunately.