Infertility investigations/IVF in Scotland - thread 2

[Kitekat81]

A thread for those who are undergoing infertility investigations / IVF in Scotland 🙂

Transfer done 😶 That full bladder thing is intense 😣

Ahhh @pixelflower congrats on being PUPO!! How amazing! When is test day? 18th March?

Oh exciting @pixelflower! How are you feeling? x

Sorry ladies. I've been brutally rubbish at keeping up! Sounds like really good progress for @willithappen and @pixelflower though! Happy PUPO @pixelflower and I really hope April comes around quickly for you @willithappen!

I'm really sorry you're having such a tough time with cycles @Scirocco and I'm really sorry for your loss too. I hope you can get some progress soon. Sending love.

Not a thing to report here, still waiting to hear from the clinic when we can expect to start treatment, mostly I'm doing OK, some days are better than others. DD is back at nursery now so at least I'm working my usual hours again.

Just wanted to check in and say hi!

Thank you 💞😊 It was actually amazing, despite feeling like I was going to pee myself 🤣 Actually saw the embryo come out the catheter and saw it sitting there. Staff were so lovely and came out feeling really happy and upbeat. Other 2 embryos are still going, just a bit behind so will get an update on if they'll be frozen today or tomorrow. Yep @willithappen 18th for testing. Feels so far away right now 🤣 Getting husband to hide all my tests later!

Hi @pixelflower awwww so happy to hear your news. Glad everything went ok, experience sounds amazing I’m glad to hear as I’ve read mixed reviews. Can’t wait for the updates 😁

Exciting times for you @pixelflower have been silently following you and @willithappen. So interesting to get some insights into how it goes. Fingers crossed for you both!

I got my amh level back which is high at 72 as they expected. My final follicle count on the report is 96. Think I’ll definitely be an OHSS risk if we go ahead with ivf.

@Rosie189 wow 96 folicile count?? I thought I was bad at 34 lol
All the nurses seemed shocked at how many I had so I can't imagine what they would think!
You'll be put on the lowest of everything with that surely?
What are the next steps for you?

I'm starting to wonder if I gave PCOS. Also gonna go dairy free for before transfer to try get my body in good shape. Had some coleslaw and ice cream tonight and my stomach is playing up so deffo need to cut it out before transfer

The woman didn’t say much when she scanned me apart from asking if I’d been diagnosed with pcos. Yeah think it would have to be fairly low dose meds. There was something in the info uploaded today that said I was the highest risk grade for OHSS. @willithappen next steps is hubby has a SA with private clinic next week then we have a consult the week after. So will go from there. I think depending on what they say I may try and push my gp to refer me to the fertility department as was told had to go via gynaecology. Then gynaecology said they weren’t running there service at the moment. We’re currently unexplained and not two years ttc till this summer so likely would wait a bit and make a decision more at that point but think will all depend on what the private consultant says.

@Rosie189 that is so much!
My doctor had said potentially PCOS with that many so it sounds like you'd be similar.
Do you get bad ovulation pains at all?
I have 17 on each ovary usually and get pains around ovulation time

@willithappen I do get ovulation pain occasionally but not always. When I do it’s normally just a short time and kinda feels like I’ve got a bit of a stitch. Nothing mega uncomfortable.

Congratulations @willithappen, I'm sending you positive vibes!!

Sorry I've been a bit MIA, I joined the group because I wanted to interact with everyone going through the same situation and I just disappeared. I've had a letter saying I have a consultation with the gyno at the end of the month and if all goes well I'll be referred to the clinic so fingers crossed! I still have a bit of weight to get off by the end of the month but I'm confident I can do it if I stick to a very strict diet! I'm just looking forward to actually getting to speak to the gyno, I was nervous they were going to push back my appointment again because I've heard they were running behind!

@Rosie189 hopefully with more information your GP will be more willing to refer to fertility rather than wait for gynecology. Good luck over the next two weeks 🤞
@conall I think that's the good thing about the forums, they're there when you need them but it's quite easy to take a step back when you need to. That's great you have an appointment, keeping fingers crossed they don't change it and all goes well.

Thanks @pixelflower I've just been so focused on losing the weight and felt like it was good to just have my whole focus on that and not think about the process that I'm going to do after I've lost it but I'm happy that it's getting closer now. It's going to be a phone consultation so I'm a bit 🤨 because one of the sticking points in the past has been about my weight and now I'm nervous that when I do speak to the gyno, she's going to be thinking has she? There's no way to tell! My head may be getting away with me though with a bit of excitement and nerves...😂

@conall I know what you mean. My husband had to stop smoking for us to be referred, so proud of him finally doing it with IVF as his motivation, right before Covid kicked off! My weight was borderline and I was told to keep an eye on it. Because of Covid we've just given verbal confirmation that we've done this. Husband hasn't had another breath test and I've been weighed once when I got my blood tests.

Strangely I haven't been weighed since my first visit to the clinic in Feb 2020.
We also just had to verbally confirm my partner had stopped smoking via video call too. He's had no further attention his way since then
I wonder if I will be weighed or any further tests before FET
I really want my day 3 bloods done now as I haven't had those and wanted my levels checked as I now have it in my head maybe I may have PCOS.

@pixelflower that's great he done that! My husband is vaping right now and I'm like your going to have to stop! He said he will once we get the go ahead because we are expecting it to take sometime, I'm not happy about him continuing but I'm holding him to it because I'm not waiting any longer!
My OH never got tested for smoking at the beginning either but we said he did, it's better to admit it and then lie about it however we didn't know they even breathe checked you until sometime afterwards so I said to him well you definitely need to stop now - I don't know if vaping will show up on it or not either but I'm not taking the risk.
I've had 3 appointments with the gyno previously and each time due to my weight I've been told no so I've worked really hard on that this past year and like I said should be at my goal weight by the end of the month, it's just that extra 3/4kg that's hard to get off it seems!

@willithappen that's great he's stopped smoking! A lot of people have been getting video calls so I was confused when I got my letter, I thought I'd be getting a video call but its just on the phone. You should give your consultant a call and ask if you can get checked - I got misdiagnosed with PCOS and then I had to keep chasing up to see about other blood tests so it's definitely worth it to chase them up.

@conall I don't know whether it's worth pushing it now or waiting until I see how I get on with FET next month
Also I would get him to stop vaping. I believe they consider it the same and they won't put you on the waiting list unless you have stopped smoking for at least three months
We were delayed by three months due to smoking/Covid delays

@willithappen if it's only a month away, wait it out and if not then chase them up about it, it's worth knowing.
I'll talk to OH tonight, I don't mind him vaping preferably on the lowest vape like 0.3 or 0mg I think I don't know much about it if I'm honest. The sooner he quits the better, I'm going to have to ask the gyno what the waitlist is like once she refers us I sort of wish I was speaking to her sooner but know it probably won't be the best thing right now!

@conall which clinic is it you will be referred to?

@willithappen Royal infirmary of Edinburgh. I'm just hoping that the waitlist isn't too long, I know everyone will be hoping for that though and ideally I'd like to have started some sort of treatment by the end of the year but you just don't know what's going too happen anymore.

@willithappen I'm guessing your bloods wouldn't be an accurate representation right now anyway. Hopefully your next true day three us a long way off and you can look into it then

@conall I just Googled IVF and vaping and looks like from 2018 you won't get NHS funding if you vape. It's a hard wait knowing that's three months longer you're waiting for something you told them they needed to do, but I think sometimes the just need to hear it from the professional.

I've just had a call about my two other embryos. One developed yesterday and was frozen, the other still hadn't developed today so unfortunately that's it for that one. If you'd told me at my baseline I'd only get 5 eggs, 4 mature, 3 fertilised and 2 blastocysts I'd have probably been disappointed but now I'm so happy to have one already transferred and one in the freezer.

@pixelflower I guess he needs to stop now then! His opinion 🤨 is that he doesn't need to stop until we get at least to ERI, my opinion is no stop now obviously! Like I said I'm happy if he goes to 0 because then there is 0% nicotine in that and I'll accept it, not that I'm happy with it.

When's your next appointment @pixelflower? I'm sending positive vibes your way!

@conall for me right now the three months is nothing really now I'm where I am, only you know what's the better path for your relationship. Like I said, I told my husband we wouldn't get treatment but he didn't quit till we left that appointment.
I don't have another appointment booked. Next appointment will either be my seven week scan or a discussion about next steps for another go.