Are you currently going through IVF ?

[hailslm]

Hi Ladies,

This might sound very naive but I am just beginning the start of what I'm hoping will be my first NHS first cycle of doner sperm due to both my fallopian tubes having been removed in a shock surgery (I am 30 and single, with no children, and still waiting on my Drs referral urgh!)

I was wondering whether you could tell me some of your experiences? How did it all start? did they take any blood tests or anything the first time you had a consultation? How long were you waiting before you started any injections? (to which i really am uneducated on!!) Honestly any and all information would be really appreciated.
I find talking to real people helps rather than try and decipher online diagrams.

Thank you for any and all responses!

'Happy New Year'
Wishing us all the luck in the world for 2021!!

Hey so it will be a while before you get to injections. There’s a lot of admin and weight taking in first appointment. Blood tests and internal scans all before you get to the meds.

My IVF journey started with unexpected tube removal too so I feel your pain.

The process typically starts with blood tests (sometimes a couple of rounds) to check hormone levels, the most important of which is AMH which gives an indication of your ovarian reserve which (usually) correlates with how well you might respond to the stim injections and the number of embryos. Your age is very much on your side there!

Dependant on your bloods, and how regular your cycle is, along with different clinics / different methods, the process can then take a few different paths.

Some people are on ‘long protocol’ which involved turning off your own menstrual cycle and others ‘short protocol’ which skips this step. I was on short for both of my two (sadly failed) attempts.

Then some clinics start with oestrogen tablets and others straight with the stim injections usually starting anywhere from day 2-7 of your cycle.

I stimmed for 11 days the first cycle and 14 the second (I didn’t respond well that time)

After a few days another injection is added which stops you ovulating.

You’ll have a few monitoring scans during your stims (id say 3 was typical) and they’ll be looking at how many follicles your ovaries have and how large they are growing. When they are ready, they will give you a final trigger injection to take approx 36 hours before your egg collection.

I hope that whistle stop tour helps - I also don’t like diagrams much and found a book called “Get A Life” really good - worth a look!